With the arrival of Super Bowl season, a spell seems to take hold of my husband. Like many American football fans, the TV mesmerizes him. He shouts, waves his hands and dances in front of the television. With all this expended energy, my husband needs nourishment. But man - especially a gluten sensitive one - cannot live by bread and football alone. So, I prepared a Super Bowl bento (Japanese lunch box.)
“Pokkin, pokkin.” Ah, the symphonic sounds of a bite of Japanese Pocky. (A chocolate covered biscuit stick.) In America, M & Ms are Mom’s prayer to avoiding messy hands. In Japan, Pocky allows mommies to hand over snacks without worry. A small portion of the Pocky stick - the handle - is free of any chocolate coating. In the past several years, new Pocky cream coatings have surfaced.
Why am I writing about red azuki bean ice cream in the dead of winter? I’ve been invited (and so are you!) to a Sunday Supper birthday party. Plenty of cake is sure to be served. But birthday cake just isn’t the same without ice cream. And red azuki bean paste is what fills an-pan bread – a popular Japanese winter warming bun...
All the hope and promise of a new year awaits…May blessings beyond your imagination greet you, dear reader, with the dawning of 2014.
It is definitely a Happy New Year in the Ninja Baker’s kitchen. 2014 has delivered a slow cooker to my doorstep. Just in time for this week’s slow cooker themed #SundaySupper!
Chicken is my husband’s favorite go-to protein. So my first meal in the slow cooker had to be chicken. Chinese chicken. Seventeen plus years in Tokyo...
Frothy gingerbread lattes, tinsel and twinkling lights deck the halls at Christmas time. Neon reindeer prance through neighborhoods. Santa sleighs laden with the latest gadgets and gizmos are wrapped in colorful ribbons. The excitement of the season is almost palpable…
My love affair began in Paris…Alluring, elusive and addictive I just can’t seem to quit my obsession with macarons! My first encounter with the French macaron cookie was at the famed French Le Cordon Bleu cooking school...
The moon and stars have collided in 2013 and we are about to see Thanksgiving and Hanukkah brought together on the same day…Never to be seen again for another 77,798 years. Is it coincidence?
I’ve yet to see art from ancient Japan capturing the smile of a samurai as he munched on mozzarella. Cheese is not a part of traditional Japanese cuisine. However...
The Middle East is a mystery to me. Although I am quite familiar with the famous Middle Eastern dessert of baklava - the puffy pastry filled with honey, nuts and dates. My only other association with the Middle East is Turkey. The country of exquisite mosques with the Bosphorus River dividing Europe and Asia. Also, the place where a handsome young American was doing 007 work...
Shrimp scampi and sushi sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it did to me until I discovered the truth: Scampi and sushi are easy to make!
